FOOTNOTES

Newsletter of the Georgia Foothills Chapter of Trout Unlimited
Volume 5, No. 7
December 1996

DECEMBER MEETING

Tuesday, December 3rd at the new USFS building in GAINESVILLE, at 7:00 pm.
Note that this is a new location...see the enclosed map, and information on this month's program.
Hope to see everyone there!

THE PRESIDENT'S COLUMN

I was recently speaking with a colleague of mine that happened to mention something about year 'round trout fishing. When I told him that Trout Unlimited was partially responsible, he seemed surprised. So, in the interest of recruiting a new member, I gave him a copy of Trout magazine and sort of explained what we were about. He was surprised when he learned what our yearly dues were. He thought it cost a couple of hundred dollars per year. (I can imagine how quickly our membership would decrease if that were the case).

The moral of this little story is this: tell people about TU. Tell them why you got involved, why you felt it was important enough to invest your money and time in. It might be that they feel the same way and our ranks may have grown by one because of your actions.

GUEST SPEAKER KATHERINE BAER

This month we will feature a guest speaker at our meeting; Katherine Baer of the Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper will be talking about the aims and progress of their Chattahoochee River Headwaters Riparian Restoration and Education Project. She will be looking for feedback from TU members on how to strengthen the project and how to work together on the issues addressed by the project.

The Chattahoochee River Headwaters Riparian Restoration and Education Project (RIP-REP) will focus on (1) demonstrating the value of functioning riparian (streamside) zones in protecting stream health, and (2) assisting interested communities to protect and restore such systems. RIP-REP will identify and assess the causes and locations of existing nonpoint source pollution in the headwaters portion of the Upper Chattahoochee watershed, which includes parts of White, Habersham, Lumpkin, and Hall counties. The project will assess dominant stream impacts and explore opportunities for stream restoration. The result will be a "road map" for restoration and protection efforts in the headwaters region.

Another integral component to this project is development of an education program for presentation to local community groups, schools, and local governments. The education program will emphasize prevention of nonpoint source pollution and protection of riparian wetlands illustrating subsequent impacts to fish and other aquatic life to aim at reducing loss of riparian habitat.

The project is sponsored by the Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper Fund, which will collaborate with the Environmental Protection Agency, local county governments, the Georgia Mountains Regional Development Center, private landowners, the Nonpoint Source Program of the Environmental Protection Division, state and federal fisheries biologists, Trout Unlimited, the University of Georgia, North Georgia College, Soil and Water Conservation Districts, local whitewater outfitters, and the staff of the Chattahoochee National Forest to achieve the following objectives: Inventory and prioritize opportunities for streambank/streambed restoration and riparian reforestation in the basin; Provide site designs for one or more streambank/streambed restoration and riparian reforestation projects; Identify appropriate funding mechanisms to implement restoration; Design a two-phased education program to introduce people to the concept of riparian zones, and to present results of stream inventory and restoration opportunities.

For more information, come to the meeting, or contact Katherine Baer at 770-538-2619.

THE POSITIVE STOP

by Jim Green

The various techniques of flycasting are all necessary for successful results, but the most important part is what I call a positive stop.

The expertise of a flycaster can be judged by the way they execute this positive stop. It is this stop that forms the correct narrow line loop and makes the line roll rearward on the back cast and frontward on the forward cast.

Without a good positive stop a person cannot become an expert caster. Putting something in motion and then suddenly stopping this movement is not what we often do in everyday life. Having no previous muscle memory of this stop makes it difficult to learn. Teaching a person to cast would be a piece of cake if the beginner could learn the positive stop quickly.

The best way I have found to teach this stop is to have the beginner go through the casting stroke repeatedly as if they were false casting without a line on the rod. Hold the rod with the wrist slightly bent back from the forearm and place the hand about three inches below the shoulder top. The forearm and biceps will form about a 90 degree angle. This is the beginning position to start the back cast when false casting. Do not bend the wrist or the elbow. Lift the hand, wrist, forearm and biceps as a unit upwards by rotating the shoulder joint. The rod will travel up a casting stroke path of 45 degrees, until it is stopped close alongside the eye. The forearm will assume a vertical position. When the rod hand reaches the eye make a positive stop by tightening the muscles of the shoulder, biceps, forearm, wrist and hand. Stop all arm movement and this will stop the rod handle. The butt part of the rod above the handle being the stiffest will stop next. The stop will progressively move up the rod. The tip being the most limber part of the rod will be forced to unload rearward very fast. If a line were on the rod a fast narrow rolling loop would be formed. The line always follows the movement of the rod tip top. The faster the tip top moves so goes the line.

The beginner should repeatedly make this back cast stroke until the rod tip is forced rearward; this positive stop must be learned.

After a good stop has been accomplished, forcing the rod tip to roll the imaginary line and leader so they almost straighten behind, start the forward cast. Move the arm unit downward by rotating the shoulder joint and return to the same position of the beginning of the back cast stroke. Again, tighten all the muscles of the arm unit and make the rod butt handle come to the positive stop.

The rod will be forced to unload. Loading the rod is really automatic, for as the rod is moved, the line weight will bend the rod and as you accelerate the movement, the rod will bend or load more.

The tricky part is to unload the rod. It is the correct positive stop that unloads the rod and forms the fast rolling narrow loop.

Repeat this dry run exercise until a good positive stop is made on both the back and forward cast. This stop has been called various names. Flipping the tip, power snap, whomping the rod, and I'm sure there may be more. Call it what you wish, but the caster must make a positive stop. It is the secret of flycasting.

Jim Green is known throughout the fly fishing industry as a creative rod designer and inventor. He and Sage founder Don Green have been pioneering new rod designs and materials since the early 1950s. He makes his home in Washington.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

TU's Southeast Region will host the 38th Annual Trout Unlimited National Meeting in Knoxville, Tennessee, July 31 through August 2, 1997.

The convention will feature the annual membership meeting and the National Resource Board's conservation deliberations. Stay tuned for more details in the spring issue of Trout.

For additional information, contact convention chairman Rick Murphree at (423)539-5041 or by FAX at (423)971-2071. Please also visit the convention's official World Wide Website at http://www.public.usit.net/skulpa/tu_conv.htm.

WHAT IS ALL THIS http:// STUFF ANYWAY?

They're popping up everywhere, on TV, in magazines, on the news, and now in FOOTNOTES. It simply refers to an address on the World Wide Web, one of the most popular resources on the internet.

The editor is slowly working on a website for the Foothills Chapter...if you're on the web and are interested in tracking its progress (but be warned, this is very much a spare-time project and may be very slow to evolve) point your browser to http://www.oocities.org/yosemite/5696.

More information to follow as it develops.

FLY PATTERN OF THE MONTH

CARTER CADDIS

Jimmy Harris recently fished with Art Carter, the publisher and executive editior of "Sporting Classics" and brings us this pattern.

According to Art, this is the most productive searching caddis pattern he has ever fished. It's particularly effective fished as a skittering caddis. The longer hackle and the extra long wing act to make the fly sit high on the water, thus easy to skitter across the surface.

Hook: #14-20 Dry Fly Hook
Wing: Green Wing Teal Flank Feather tied downwing style; extend past the hook bend 1/2 to 1 full shank length
Body: Grey Dubbing on rear 1/2 of hook
Hackle: Brown and Grizzly wound over front 1/2 of shank to eye. Hackle is 1-1/2 to 2 hook gaps in length.

Fly-tying season is coming up...send your favorite patterns to the editor for inclusion in FOOTNOTES as pattern of the month!